Gen Z Can’t Buy Homes, But They Can Pay for Ten Subscriptions While Betting on Crypto and Prediction Markets

Priced out of homeownership, stuck in a tough job market, and watching once-stable institutions lay off workers by the hundreds of thousands, young Americans are ditching the old playbook. Instead, they’re channeling time and money into sports betting, crypto speculation, and prediction markets — while stacking streaming subscriptions to help forget why the corporate grind feels so pointless.

Economic realities bite hard: New research from the University of Chicago and Northwestern shows that when young adults see homeownership as out of reach, they pull back on work, spend more on leisure, and take bigger financial risks. And really, why grind when a six-figure down payment could be decades away — no matter how many raises you get? It tracks with the data as sports betting revenue surged 25% to $13.7B in 2024, with a quarter of men under 30 now betting online, while one-third of 25-year-olds have investment accounts, 6x the share in 2015. And that’s before factoring in the job market.

• US employers announced over 153K job cuts in Oct. 2025 — up 175% from the same month last year, while year-to-date layoffs have hit 1.1M, a 65% jump from 2024.
• More than half of Gen Z now have side hustles, compared to just 21% of boomers — treating gig work as a long-term career path, not just a stopgap.

The Solution: Not Thinking About It

When $400K homes are out of reach, but paying for dozens of monthly subscriptions still costs a fraction of rent, many young consumers redirect spending toward anything that’ll numb the pain. This mindset fuels platforms like SpotifySPOT

, YouTubeGOOGL

, NetflixNFLX

, MetaMETA

, and TikTok — all profiting from a generation that’s largely checked out of traditional wealth-building. The more time users spend on these platforms, the more money these companies make — and what better reason to use these platforms than to distract from the stress of it all?

• Spotify’s revenue has nearly tripled over the past five years, with its monthly active users reaching 713M in the most recent quarter — while YouTube’s MAU is expected to reach 2.8B this year.
• Younger generations aren’t in a rush to think about anything else, with 84% of Gen Z delaying major life milestones like marriage, children, and career changes to potentially afford a home.

The math doesn’t check out: For Gen Z watching their parents’ generation build wealth through real estate, the lesson is clear — the traditional formula doesn’t work anymore. Americans now need to earn ~$141K to afford a median-priced home, but average salaries are roughly half that. Jason Waugh, president of Coldwell Banker Affiliates, admits there’s “no single fix” to the affordability problem — it’ll take declining mortgage rates, growing housing supply, and moderating price growth. Until that happens, Gen Z will keep betting on long shots — because the traditional paths stopped paying off years ago.